The Highland Prep Honey Badgers will challenge the River Valley Dust Devils at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Highland Prep has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with eight straight defeats, while River Valley will come in with five straight victories.
Highland Prep fell victim to Somerton and their airtight pitching crew on Monday. They lost 15-0 to the Toros.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask River Valley). Everything went their way against Winslow on Friday as they made off with a 17-2 win. Considering the Dust Devils have won six games by more than eight runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Mickey Smith made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one walk in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI, and one run. That's the most RBI he has posted over his last nine contests.
In other batting news, Wyatt Maxwell was a standout: he went 2-for-3 with two runs, two doubles, and one RBI. That's the most doubles he has posted since back in April of 2025. The team also got some help courtesy of Mikey Gonzalez, who went 3-for-4 with three runs and one RBI.
River Valley kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Winslow only managed one.
Highland Prep's loss dropped their record down to 0-5. As for River Valley, their victory bumped their record up to 8-3.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Tuesday as neither team is afraid to steal. Highland Prep has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.8 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like River Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 3.1 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
Highland Prep suffered a grim 19-0 defeat to River Valley when the teams last played back in April of 2025. Can the Honey Badgers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
